Kingston salutes area's veterans with banners project

KINGSTON — The banners began popping up on lampposts along Broadway in Kingston almost overnight.

BY PAULINE LIU

KINGSTON — The banners began popping up on lampposts along Broadway in Kingston almost overnight.

From the Henry J. Bruck Funeral Home, west to the underpass in Midtown, each bears the image of a military service man or woman, past or present.

The goal is to make sure their names, faces and service to the nation are not forgotten locally.

The new project, spearheaded by the Kingston Veterans Association, is known as Kingston Area Hometown Heroes.

Late last week, a small army of volunteers gathered around a bucket truck near Kingston High School to put up more banners. Traffic and passersby navigated quietly past the group.

"What a rush!" yelled out Bill Bittner, commander of American Legion Post 150, as he sprinted off to get more banners to put up. "I feel great inside that we did something for the community," he added.

The community has responded by continuing to place orders for more banners. The Kingston Veterans Association is charging $100 for each dual-sided vinyl banner, even though the actual cost per banner is more than $130.

The group had fundraisers to help offset some of the costs, so the banners would be more affordable to the families of military members.

So far, orders for 120 banners have been filled, and the volunteers have installed half of them. New orders are coming in daily, said Bill Forte, chairman of the Kingston Veterans Association.

"Right now, I seem to have more banners than I have poles," he added.

To the volunteers, the project still seems a bit surreal, because it almost didn't happen at all.

Forte and his wife, Doris, got the inspiration for the banners from ones they saw hanging from lampposts in the town of Cairo in Greene County, where they went on a camping trip last summer.

"My wife said, 'Wow, why doesn't somebody do this in Kingston?' I became that somebody," Forte said.

It began with just a trickle of interest. When the Kingston Veterans Association began the project late last year, only three orders for banners were placed.

"I was ready to cancel the payment. But then after the holidays in January, it suddenly started to snowball, and I never thought it would take off like this," Forte said.

The bucket truck was on loan from Jared Deiers of Deiers Electric, who also volunteered his dad, Jerry Jr., to help put up banners.

"I think it's a great way to pay tribute to our veterans, they can use the truck any time they want," said Deiers, whose relatives purchased two banners — one to honor his late grandfather, Jerry Sr., who served in the Marine Corps during the Korean War; as well as one for his late uncle, Robert, a Vietnam-era veteran.

The volunteer in the bucket truck who was hanging the banners was retired electrician Ed Akins.

"I consider it a privilege to be a part of this," said Akins, who is treasurer for the Kingston Veterans Association.

He bought banners for his own two sons, who both served in the Marine Corps. Tom recently returned from Iraq; Dave was disabled during Desert Storm, Akins said.

The group has designated the poles in front of City Hall and the high school for banners of those who were killed in action.

Volunteers also plan to put up their banners along The Strand in the Rondout Creek waterfront, where the poles are also city-owned.

From the underpass, they plan to move westward and continue hanging banners on either side of Broadway until they reach Albany Avenue, where the poles are owned by Central Hudson.

They've ruled out Uptown Kingston, because lampposts there are too low.

"We want them up at least 10 feet high, but in Uptown, you can only hang them five or six feet off the ground ,and we're concerned about vandalism," said Forte.

The group plans to take the banners down after Labor Day, as the city begins displaying its holiday decorations.

The Kingston Veterans Association and its coalition of veterans organizations expect to begin the process all over again next April to ensure all of the banners will be up by Memorial Day.

Families interested in purchasing a banner can pick up an application at American Legion Post 150, next to the high school. They'll need to provide a photo, and indicate the years of service and which branch of the military their loved one served in.

"It's heartfelt from each of the families; that's what makes it so important," Forte said.

The veterans hope they've started a new tradition. How far will they go with their banners?

"Let's go all the way to Albany," said volunteer Charles Manfro, who admits he was only half kidding.

pliu@th-record.com

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